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Viacom, Tumblr Team Up to Offer Co-Branded Campaigns

Partnership starts with MTV Movie Awards

Viacom has been making good use of popular blogging platform Tumblr in the recent past and now it looks like the partnership is official: the two organizations will offer "co-branded campaigns for top shows and events" starting with the MTV movie awards.

"They've been unbelievably collaborative with us," said Dario Spina, evp, integrated marketing for Viacom. Spina is working on the integrated marketing side of the company's Echo Social Media Network, which extends ad buys across social, and the partnership will bolster that initiative as Viacom heads into upfront season.

Tumblr and Viacom (which includes Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and other laser-targeted cable networks) have worked closely on recent campaigns for Paramount's remake of Endless Love, blanketing the blogging network in hashtagged pictures, gifs and videos. Then there was Teen Wolf, which, as part of an aggressive social campaign, featured Valentine's Day cards from its characters. Campaigns sold throughout the upfront under the partnership will bear both Tumblr and Viacom imprimaturs.

Overall, a good Tumblr account has become a vital part of any sound social marketing strategy and with Viacom pushing hard on its event programming this year, it makes a lot of sense for the organization to adopt a formal partnership. It’s also the first company to do so, though Viacom and many others have formal agreements in place with Twitter.

Facebook is currently causing a stir among advertisers by throttling traffic to branded pages in order to generate paid advertising; Twitter moves so quickly and works so simply that more sophisticated content (like locally hosted gifs, a Tumblr staple) aren't possible. Tumblr, recently purchased by Yahoo, is positioned by default to grow in the media world, especially among networks trying to cultivate fandoms.

Viacom already has 40 blogs with 3 million followers on the network; last spring it generated 3 million mentions across social media for the 2013 MTV Movie Awards. The media conglomerate will offer co-branded campaigns with Tumblr throughout the upfront season.